


Happy Not-Birthday

by writterings



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Birthdays, Gen, dadvid, i wrote this as a birthday present to myself lmfaoooo, just family fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 17:20:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12237303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writterings/pseuds/writterings
Summary: It's Max's birthday. And under no circumstances is David allowed to celebrate it, get him anything, or even wish him 'Happy Birthday'.





	Happy Not-Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> as promised in the author's note of chpt 8 of loco parentis....the birthday fic i was planning. you can consider this part of lp if you've read it -- though some things are different, like david officially being max's foster dad and david being a high school teacher instead of a college professor. anyways, on with the show!

“You are not to get me anything. You are not to make me anything,” Max listed off, staring directly into David’s eyes with an expression so serious it looked as though he might have been joking. “You are not to tell anyone. You are not even allowed to say the words ‘Happy Birthday’.”

David blinked down at his foster son, who had woken him up at 6 AM just to give him the lowdown of how he wanted his birthday to go. Or not go, evidently.

“Alright,” David said, calmly enough. “Can I still make you a special breakfast?”

“No!” Max exclaimed, slamming his hands down on the mattress and making the bed jiggle a bit. He had given David a wake up call by jumping directly on his chest while screaming “WAKEY WAKEY, MOTHERFUCKER!” He was sitting on David’s legs now, leaning forward a bit on his hands. “Well...actually, what type of breakfast are we talkin’?”

David felt himself smirk internally, but externally he tried to keep it casual. “Oh...I dunno, chocolate chip pancakes? And I bought a pre-made batter this time so you know I won’t mess them up.”

Max thought about it for a moment -- considering heavily the pre-made batter part, since David wasn’t a good cook so that was an extra promise of a special breakfast. “Fine,” he finally huffed out. “But it’s not because it’s my birthday. You’re just making a ‘special breakfast’ because you believe in the spontaneity of life and doing random things that make you happy without needing a correlation as to why you should do them. Okay?”

“Oh, yeah. Totally.” David shrugged. “And, you know, I actually do believe in the spontaneity of life and doing fun things just for the sake of doing them! I totally did not buy this batter and planned to make these pancakes with your birthday in mind.”

He winked.

Max rolled his eyes. “Ugh, whatever. You just gotta make everything overkill, don’t you?” He slid off David’s leg and the bed, stepping onto the floor. “I’m gonna go get ready for school. Remember -- nothing birthday related today, capisce?”

“Capisce.”

Max rolled his eyes one last time and headed out the door. “Your willingness to please others despite their ridiculous requests is sometimes a blessing, David!” he called over his shoulder. 

David swung his legs around his bed and rolled his eyes, preparing to get ready himself.  “I know.”

 

* * *

 

The pancakes had been a success -- David had hardly burned them. The pre-made batter was definitely a good call too. Of course, he was a little bummed out that he wasn’t allowed to put candles in the shape of the number ‘11’ on them, but Max seemed to enjoy them regardless. 

On their way to school, Max fiddled with the radio the whole time and David drove carefully, as usual. David knew Max hadn’t told any of his school friends about his birthday and felt somewhat saddened by that fact -- despite how Max didn’t want it acknowledged at all. 

That then made him wonder what he was going to do with the birthday cards he had found in the mail from Nikki and Neil and a few other of Max’s camp friends; but that seemed more like a bridge he would burn when he got there.

David pulled up to the front of the school and let Max get out -- not walking him to the front as per requested months ago. Max hesitated for a moment before unbuckling and grabbing his backpack, and David turned to look at him. He smiled. 

“Hey,” he said. He reached out and ruffled Max’s hair, to which his hand got quickly swatted away. “Have a good day.”

Max scowled at him. “I said no birthday wishes!”

“All I said was ‘have a good day’. You can have a good day even if it’s not your birthday. I mean, when even is your birthday? Do you even have one? Or did you just pop out of the ground like a garden gnome or something?”

Max rolled his eyes and opened the car door, hopping out a second later. “God, you’re so weird.” He paused for a moment before closing the door, and gave a small, tentative smile. “But thanks. Weirdo.”

The door slammed shut and Max went running off into the building.

 

* * *

 

Being a high school teacher was a good job for David. It let him have the summers off so he could work at Camp Campbell, and he still got to interact with kids. Sure, the pay was shit and he occasionally had to live paycheck to paycheck but he loved what he did.

Especially since he got prep periods -- AKA periods where he didn’t have to do anything except grade papers or make lesson plans. Or just scroll on his phone and do nothing. Those periods really were blessings. 

But today, he was especially glad he had them -- considering Max’s school called him and he wouldn’t have been able to take the call in front of his class. 

“Hello?” he said, feeling the apprehension that always came when received a phone call from the elementary school at an odd time of the day.

“Yeah, hi? Are you Max’s legal guardian?” the school nurse’s voice rang out. “We’re gonna need you to pick him up.”

She gave him a few more details and then hung up. David checked in with the principal of his school, made sure one of his fellow teachers could pop in a movie for his afternoon classes if he couldn’t make it back, and then set off down the road to see what was wrong. 

It took him about five minutes to actually be allowed into Max’s school -- something that was usually a comfort since it meant the school didn’t allow in strangers, but now was just an annoyance since all it did was make him more concerned as time when on. 

Finally, the lone security guard let him into the school and led him into the nurse’s office. The nurse gave him what was a mix of a grimace and a sympathetic look before nodding towards one of the cots they had pushed against the far wall of the room. Max was sitting on one, hugging himself tightly with the traces of tears on his face. 

He looked up at David when he approached, glaring but with no real heat behind it. “Let’s go home.”

 

* * *

 

The car ride had been silent. Max didn’t play with the radio. Anytime David tried to glance over at him, he quickly turned his head away to stare out the window.

When they got back to their house, Max threw him backpack on the couch, kicked off his shoes, and headed directly into his room. He let his door slam, and David flinched when he heard it. 

He hesitated a moment, then followed after him. 

“Knock knock,” he said quietly, already opening Max’s door.

“You know, saying ‘knock knock’ isn’t the same as knocking. And entering a room without knocking is considered rude in a lot of cultures.” Max had been lying face down on his bed, but turned around just as he said the last part. “Including our culture.”

David shut the door behind him and sat on the bed. Max rolled around again and shoved his face into the pillow.

“Wanna talk about what happened?” David asked.

“No.” Max’s voice was muffled. “I really, sincerely do not. Plus, Nurse Betty already told you what happened.”

David sighed. The nurse had explained that Max had what could only be described as a panic attack. No one was really sure why, but it had happened directly after his teachers had wished him a happy birthday when seeing a little birthday cake icon appear next to Max’s name on the electronic attendance sheet on her computer. 

David reached out to pat Max on the back, and left his hand lingering there when it wasn’t thrown off. “Do you want me to leave you alone?”

There was no answer for a moment. “...No.”

David moved a bit closer to Max. “I have to ask….what did you usually do for your birthdays before you moved in with me?”

Max sighed and then rolled over. He sat up, legs crossed on the bed, and then leaned forward and headbutted David lightly on the shoulder. He let himself lean on David in that position. “We...really didn’t do anything. One -- for my sixth birthday -- my parents got me a blue coat hanger to hang my blue hoodie on, but I think the blue part was a coincidence.”

Max shifted around so that he was sitting next to David. David wrapped an arm around him-- something he wouldn’t have been able to do under normal circumstances. 

“That...sounds awful,” David muttered.

Max shrugged. “It’s okay, I guess. I was used to it. Plus, I’m not really big on presents -- I don’t really care that my parents never got me anything.”

“Is that why -- ?”

“I don’t know,” Max interrupted, surprisingly deadpan. “I...I’m just not big on birthdays in general, I guess. They just remind you about who cares about you and who doesn’t.”

“I care about you,” David said, giving Max a side-squeeze.

Max gagged. “Ew, gross. Displays of familial affection? On my  _ birthday _ ? David, I thought you had more tact.”

David grinned at him. “So  _ now  _ we can acknowledge your birthday?”

“What? No.” Max rolled his eyes, but soon was grinning too. “I mean….unless it’s under an entirely joking scenario and people who I have no emotional connection to don’t give me an empty and half-hearted ‘happy birthday’ like my parents always did...then, I might be down.”

David rolled his eyes. “So, what you’re saying is….movie night, just you and me? And I can give you a present, just as long as no one else knows it's your birthday?”

“You got me a present?”

“I got you  _ two _ , actually.”

“Damn, David.” Max shook his head. “You sure know how to spoil an undeserving bastard, heathen of a child.”

David ruffled Max’s hair, hand not being swatted away this time. “Happy birthday, Max.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> it's my birthday....and lemme just say....me?? projecting some problems i have with birthdays onto max???? more likely than you think. tbh he has it way worse than me but still. 
> 
> i wrote this as a birthday present to myself lol
> 
> anyways, R&R if you feel like


End file.
